Joel G went diving yesterday and took this amazing picture:
Even though I don’t have a clue what the creature pictured is I can use the term “amazing” without hyperbole for three reasons:
- The water is almost never this clear in Southern California
- Joel has been taking underwater photos for only six months
- A man was killed by a shark in the water near here yesterday morning
Good job Joel. Click in the face of danger.
Discover more from Simon Burrow
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
The creature is a nudibranch called a Spanish shawl. At least that’s the name they’re known by. They have some hard to pronounce Latin name, too.
There was nothing special about the water. The vis was a normal 10-15 ft and the temperature at depth was a balmy 53F.
Some Codgers may recall that on my very first referral dive in Cozumel, my instructor and I descended within 5 feet of a circling shark. He made me go to my knees on the bottom and hold still for about 3 minutes till the shark got bored and swam away. So I guess I was trained to dive with sharks.